Thou shalt not kill. It is one of the Ten Commandments that any Bible Belt minister worth his salt can recite from memory. For one Oklahoma City pastor, however, this commandment was broken like Moses' tablets of stone, leaving him to face a first-degree murder trial.
Michael Scott Elder, 53, is accused of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his son-in-law, Gary Davidson, 27. After conflicting testimony at a preliminary hearing last week, Oklahoma County District Court Judge Ray C. Elliot ordered Elder to stand trial for murder.
Defense attorneys for Elder say he was acting in defense of his daughter, April Davidson, when he shot her estranged husband in the couple's pickup truck.
According to an early affidavit, Gary Davidson was shot as he and April Davidson struggled for control of a pickup truck. Police say that Gary had called 911 the day before the shooting to report that his father-in-law had stolen his truck. When police investigated, they determined that the incident was a civil matter and that their involvement was unnecessary. The Davidson's had filed for divorce, and they were disputing ownership of the vehicle. The truck, which was in both Gary and April Davidson's names, was released to April.
Gary then allegedly picked up the couple's 2-year-old daughter, who lived with April, and took her to his home in retaliation for the truck. The following day, April agreed to return the truck in exchange for her daughter. When Gary refused to release the child to his estranged wife, she attempted to leave.
April Davidson testified at the preliminary hearing that Gary got into the front seat of the truck and attempted to push and pull her from the vehicle. She said that she had her foot on the brake, but Gary pressed the gas, and she feared for her life. She testified that her father ran alongside the truck, telling Gary Davidson to end the assault. April said she heard one shot, but did not see her father fire a weapon. She testified that Gary crawled to the back seat of the vehicle and fell out.
April Davidson's testimony was countered by that of Judith Chism, Gary Davidson's girlfriend who lived with him at the residence where the shooting occurred. Chism says that the truck was stopped and Gary was attempting to leave the back seat vehicle when he was shot. She testified to hearing four or five shots.
A crime scene investigator testified that Davidson was shot three times at close range through the front passenger side window, with at least two of those shots occurring when Davidson was in the back seat.
Now, a jury will decide whether Michael Elder, who has pleaded not guilty to first degree murder, is guilty of murder or if he was within his rights to protect his daughter from serious bodily harm or even death.
Disputes over custody or division of assets can turn ugly in a dispute. When heated disagreements turn to domestic violence, the results can be deadly. Even with Oklahoma's permissive Stand Your Ground self defense laws, it can be hard to define the distinction between justifiable homicide and murder.
